Gentiane MG – Walls Made of Glass
Gentiane MG: piano
Levi Dover: bass
Louis-Vincent Hamel: drums
Following up on the potent musical message of her first two releases Eternal Cycle (2017) and Wonderland (2019), Montreal-based pianist Gentiane Michaud-Gagnon (known as Gentiane MG) is excited to share her deeply immersive third outing, Walls Made of Glass. The album features MG’s longtime colleagues Levi Dover (bass) and Louis-Vincent Hamel(drums), both major voices of the Canadian jazz scene, in a tour de force collection of new original music. More than ever, the band shares a deep bond that obscures the boundaries between written and improvised material.
Walls Made of Glasscomes from a desire to capture and to sharemeaningful and alive moments stemming from the deep connection MG has felt with her environment: objects, animals, plants, sounds and so forth. These inspirations led to 10 enthralling pieces, bright and full of contrast. Together with Dover and Hamel, MG creates a trio sound rooted in flexibility, interactivity, rhythmic command and expressive connection, conveying strong emotion and bringing imagination and mystery to a compelling acoustic landscape.
Listening to Walls Made of Glass, one can lose themselves in a musical universe that goes way beyond notes, that stands as an artistic whole before everything else. Through music and artwork, Walls Made of Glass represents MG’s growing perspective on learning to live more in the moment and on the meaning of art. “When a light glows in the dark,” she offers, “our eyes are unavoidably drawn towards its beam. The moments from which this music originated are like this light. The contrast made them unexpectedly, yet miraculously, perceptible.”
Driven by her love of modern jazz and her early training as a classical pianist followed by her development as a jazz pianist, MG pilots her trio with a vibrant sense of groove and lyricism, employing impeccable technique, revealing a penchant for bold dynamic arcs and harmony rich in ambiguity and subtle dissonance.
“Through the piano, Gentiane MG transcends emotions and plumbs the unknown.”
Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
Release Date: Friday, September 23rd 2022 on TPR Records.
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